Finding comfort
by StarLightsoxo
Summary: AU modern day: After the death of Eren's mother and the disappearence of his father, Eren stopped going to school. 6 months have passed since he last when to school and just when he thought everyone gave up on him, get gets a personal tutor, who just happens to be a grumpy short clean freak! But having a tutor isn't as bad as Eren first thought. Rated T for swearing. R
1. Chapter 1

**Finding comfort**

I was woken by Mikasa calling my name. When I opened my eyes I saw her standing over me and once again with that same concerned look on her face.

"You're crying again" She said in a monotone way. I raised my hand to my cheek to find I was crying. "You dreamt about mum again didn't you?" She asked as she sat on the edge of my bed. I thought for a moment; trying to remember what it was I was dreamt.

"Yeah" I simply said. I glanced over at my clock, 7:30 it read. I groaned lifting my duvet over my face.

"Will you be coming to school today, Eren?" She asked while pulling my covers off my face. Once again concern and worry in her voice.

"What do you think?" I turned away from her, pulling my covers back over my face. I haven't bothered with school since my mum died. I saw no point in it anyway, I couldn't be bothered to deal with all the dicks that go there and now my mum wasn't here to pester me about it, what was the point in going?

I felt Mikasa get up from where she sat on the edge of the bed. "You're going to have to go sooner or later you know" She has hope that one day I will go back to school but she still knows it wont happen, not now. "If you need me, just call" She sighed and the next thing I heard was the click of the door. Once I heard the front door close, I soon drifted back off to sleep.

By the time I was awake again, it was already noon. I could still felt sleep but no matter how hard I tried, sleep would not come. I would have to deal with Mikasa's nagging if I spent the day sleeping. So instead I headed to the shower.

Letting the water run its coarse along my body, I got lost in thought. It's been half a year since my mother died. Her death hit us pretty hard and when my dad left us alone made matters worse. The two of us were left alone to deal with loss of my mother, I was only nine at the time and Mikasa only ten. Since that day its only been the two of us but Armin's grandfather came to check on us from time to time, to make sure we were okay.

Because Mikasa is a year older, she took it upon herself to act in as my mother and if not for her, I probably would have been lost in the sorrow and grief of losing my mother.

Once I had finished getting ready, I went straight for the kitchen. It was about 1 o'clock by the time I had finished getting ready and naturally I felt hungry. Mikasa being Mikasa, had already made me something to snack on. She'd also left me a note that read '_I made you a chicken salad. Just because I'm not there, you're not pigging out on crap. Love Mikasa' _Even though Mikasa isn't my real sister, she really has taken after my mother. A smiled a bit at the thought. When we were kids, she always said how much she wanted to be like my mum. I don't get how she copes with all of this; she lost her real family when she was young so we took her in but then she also lost that family too.

I made my way to the living room after I had finished eating, leaving the plate on the side. I turned the TV on and fell onto the couch, not really paying any attention to what was on. Everyday was like this, everyday I did the same thing. I'd wake up from a dream of my mum, have a shower, eat and watch TV till Mikasa came home from school. Even though I did the same boring things everyday, I still chose not to go to school. I don't even think I could go back to school, even if I wanted to. I haven't been to school for 6 months now, so I doubt they would even let me go back. It's not like the school even care that I'm not there either; they haven't exactly made any effort to try and get me to go. They only people who do try is Mikasa and Armin.

I had gotten bored of watching TV and waiting for Mikasa to come home, so I decided to go to the coffee shop at the end of the street. It's a place I go every now and then, mostly when Mikasa brought people round and didn't want to put up with all nagging about going to school. It was a place I could slip away for a while and be at peace.

I'd ordered the usual coffee and took my seat by the window. Normally spend a few hours there, sat just watching as people go by but I got a message from Mikasa saying she needed me home. She hadn't specified why she needed me home, so I guessed it wasn't exactly important. I waited it out for a while, taking my time with my drink. It wasn't until my phone stared to ring that I'd realised I got lost in thought again.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Where are you? I told you I needed you to be home" Mikasa replied in a rather annoyed tone.

"Ahh, I'm at the coffee shop! I just lost track of time, sorry" I replied sheepishly. I heard Mikasa sigh.

"Well, hurry home!" Mikasa finally said and before I could answer, she hung up. I sighed and got up and left. I didn't exactly rush home; I still had a coffee to drink.

Even though I didn't rush, it still didn't take me long to get home. But when I got there, I saw someone's car parked outside our house. I just stared at it for a moment, who's car is that? In a rush to find out, I made a start to the door.

"I'm not waiting any longer for that shitty brat, I'm not going to spend my time..." Just as I was about to walk through the door, I bumped into a rather angry and... short looking man. Before I could register what had just happened, I felt sudden pain in my abdomen and the next thing I know, I'm curled up on my front step coughing.

"Shitty brat! Look what you've done!" When I look up, I saw a very pissed looking guy with a rather large coffee stain on the front of his _very_ white shirt.


	2. Chapter 2

**Finding Comfort**

**Chapter 2**

I can honestly say that when I woke up this morning, I didn't expect to be sat in the dry cleaners waiting for a rather short irritable man's shirt to be cleaned. Yeah, I did spill my left over coffee all over him but he was the one to walk into me, so I don't see why I'm the one that has to pay for this. I should really get him to buy me another coffee. It was only shirt so it didn't exactly take long to clean nor was it that expensive either. But what really pissed me off was the fact he punched me in the stomach and it wasn't even my fault.

Seen as I had to walk to the cleaners, it took me an hour to get home and by the time I got home it had started to get dark. When I got home though, Mikasa was sat on our door step, face resting in her hands. I obviously looked just as confused as I had felt.

"Apparently, our house is a 'shit hole' and needs cleaning. He said I'd get in the way and kicked me out" She said, her face void of any emotion. Who the hell was this guy?! First he demands me to pay for the dry cleaners as 'punishment' for spilling coffee all over him and now he's cleaning our house!

Ignoring Mikasa's warning, I went to find who this bastard was. I finally found him hoovering the front room, an irritated look on his face. Mikasa had found us and stood patiently behind me. I took a look around the room in shock; our house hasn't been this clean since before mum died. Yeah, we clean the house but it was mostly just tiding things away. Seeing the house this clean brought back memories of the days when Mikasa and I helped mum with the cleaning and how happy my mother looked. Feelings of nostalgia and grief had found me.

I was broken away from my thoughts to find an annoyed looking face looking at us. I just stared dumbfounded; I finally managed to get a good look at the guy. Although he seemed to have a constant scowl on his face, he was a good looking guy. From what I could see from where I stood, his eye's were dark grey colour though it was hard to see. I let my eyes wonder more, it was only then that I remembered I still had his shirt. Although pale, he was perfectly toned. I couldn't help but let my eyes wonder down his toned front. He was beautiful.

He shot us a glare and sat down on the couch. "Well? Are you going to stand there all evening?! Shitty brats" He spat. I completely pushed the thought to the back of my mind and made my way over, Mikasa following. "Are you going to hand me my shirt back or do I have to sit here half naked with you naked?" He asked, rather harshly. Realising I was in fact staring again, I felt my cheeks heat up. I chucked him his shirt, earning a 'tsk' in the mean time.

"A-are you going to tell me who you are and why you're in my house, cleaning?!" I spat and cringed at how my voice cracked. Why was just looking at him making me feel so stupid? I couldn't help but watch him put his shirt back on, he was so mesmerising. The way he moved was flawless. He really was beautiful. I soon realised I had been staring again and quickly averted my gaze to the window.

"Inpatient brat aren't you" The short man retorted once he was finished putting on his shirt. "Has your sister not told you anything?" He asked, his irritation rising again. I looked over to where Mikasa sat and she almost seemed apologetic. Then I remembered there was a reason why she wanted me home as soon as possible, this must be it.

I looked away from Mikasa and shook my head. He sighed and sat back down on the couch, putting his arms over the back of the sofa and putting his leg over the other. The feeling of dread had settled in my stomach; I could tell that I was not going to like what was to come.

"I'm a personal tutor, Rivaille, and because your school are concerned about you as you haven't been for the last six months, they have hired me to become your home tutor" For the second time today, I just stared dumbfounded. _Personal tutor?!_

"Personal tutor?! What the fuck is all this about?!" I looked at the both of them desperately. Mikasa was still looking apologetic while Rivaille was looking apathetic as ever. "I don't need a personal tutor! I have no interest in school and why have they only decided to do something now?" I began to raise my voice. I don't need a stupid home tutor and definitely don't need an apathetic bastard as one either!

"Eren, you need to do this! You don't go to school and this is the only..." Mikasa started before I interrupted her.

"Haven't I already told I don't have any interest in school!" I shouted. I was stood up now, hands balled into fists. There was no way I'm having this bastard as a tutor or a tutor at all. The school has never bothered with me for half a year, so why all of a sudden have they taken interest?

Mikasa just sighed. "You know this isn't what your mum would want, Eren" What Mikasa said struck a nerve. All of a sudden, the anger I felt was replaced with guilt and remorse. Memories of my mothers face flooded my mind for the second time. I thought over the six months I could handle the pain of her death but what Mikasa said, just brought back all the pain I tried my hardest to forget.

I fell back down onto the chair. My emotions were obviously showing on my face because I heard Mikasa mutter an apology and look to the floor.

"I'm your tutor whether you like it or not! I'd rather not be teaching a brat like you but I'm stuck with you and you're stuck with me, so deal with it!" I'd completely forgot Rivaille was still sat there. I looked back at him, still no emotion on his face. I didn't say anything and just stared.

"Please, Eren! You can't live like this any more!" Mikasa pleaded. "It's been half a year now, everyone at school is worried about you Eren! Armin is worried, I'm worried" Mikasa looked determined. I sighed, I knew she was right. She's done so much for me since my mothers death and all I've done is make her worry about me. I guess I should just suck it up and just do it, but will this really be a good idea?

I looked back over to Rivaille, still emotionless. I brought my hand to my face and sighed; did my tutor really need to be so irritable and emotionless?

"Fine, I'll do it" I finally said. Mikasa sighed in relief and smiled. I looked back at Rivaille and he was walking over to where I was sat. He reached out his hand for me to shake it and I took it. His grip was firm. He then smirked, which shocked me, and bent over so his mouth was hovering by my ear. My eyes widened and I held my breath.

"And if you stare at me like a horny teenager again, I'll put you in your place" My eyes widened even more and I went stiff. Heat quickly rose to my face, a visible blush every inch from my neck to my ears. I really was going to regret this, wasn't I?


	3. Chapter 3

**Finding Comfort **

**Chapter 3**

Its been a week since Rivaille became my tutor and even though he warned me about staring, I couldn't help but let my eyes wonder. In my defence he was making it painfully hard not to stare. I swear he was purposefully doing this, leaning over my shoulder so his cheek was inches away from mine, bending over and stretching in front of me. I felt heat rise to my cheeks just thinking about it. I honestly believe he wants me to stare at him.

And if that wasn't enough, the tutoring was exactly going well either. I haven't been to school in over six months so all the stuff Rivaille is trying to get me to do, I have no idea what it is. And because I have no idea what it is, I don't know how to do it, in which I receive a rather painful smack the back of the head and 'shitty brat' remark. So in this week, I have succeeded in nothing.

I lazily fell onto the couch with a sigh. I still had an hour till Rivaille would arrive for yet another fail of a tutoring session. If things were going to carry on like this, what even is the point?

Before I could start to pity myself, I heard the front door. "I'm home! And I've brought company!" Mikasa called out.

"I'm in the living room" I called back. She soon found me lead on the sofa. I looked up see Armin trailing behind her. "Armin!" I sat up with a grin on my face. Armin came over quite a lot over the last week.

"How's the tutoring going?" He said walking over to sit next to me. Hearing that man's name brought a mix of emotion but the most dominate ones was anger and annoyance. I just groaned and fell back on the sofa and Armin just laughed. "It's that bad is it?" He asked.

"He's just so.. so.. EUGH!" I lifted my hands up to empathize my point. "I don't understand him at all! One minute it looks like he's trying to tease me and the next he's hitting me on the back of the head and calling me a brat!" I moaned.

"He only hits you because you're not learning anything, how many times have you gone over that one algebra equation and still get it wrong?" Mikasa said with a smirk while handing both me and Armin a drink. I just glared at her, earning another laugh from Armin and small chuckle from Mikasa. I couldn't help myself but smirk.

I'd completely lost track of the time talking with Armin and Mikasa. Whenever we were together like this, it seemed like nothing else mattered. It helped me get my mind off of things.

But of course I should have realised that this peace would be interrupted by non other than Rivaille. Like always he was on arrived on time, not a minute sooner or minute later. I groaned and fell further into the sofa. I heard Mikasa laugh and get up to answer the door. I really didn't want to deal with him yet.

"Is that him?" Armin asked looking in the direction Mikasa had left in. I just grunted in reply to what he said. "He's smaller than I imagined" Armin said a litter quieter this time. I smirked and looked up to see Mikasa leading him in. Emotionless as always. Will there be a day when he shows any other expression other than annoyed or bored? Probably not. I looked back again to see him already sat at the table waiting for me. _Not even a hello? _

"It would be nice if you said hello when you came" I said sitting down opposite him.

"If you actually showed progress, I might think about it" He replied. I heard both Mikasa and Armin snicker and just glared at them. Mikasa came back with a drink for Rivaille, the usual coffee. "Seen as you still have yet to grasp the concept of this algebra equation, we will be going over it again and then we will be moving on to English" he said taking a sip from his drink. I groaned again.

As I was struggling with the equation once again, Armin and Mikasa were happily watching TV and chatting amongst themselves. Armin occasionally looked over to see how things were going, but as always, things were going badly.

"Tsk, how many times do I have to tell you that you subtract a from b?!" Rivaille spat. I still had not completed this equation. "Do it again" He demanded. I sighed and started again.

I'd finally managed to get the equation right only to stuck on another one. This one was a lot harder than the ones I did before. I had been staring at the question for a while when I heard Rivaille sigh. I looked up to see him rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Take a break Jaeger and make me a drink" He finally said. I got up to leave and heard a 'me too' coming from Mikasa.

"You know, it might actually be a good thing to have Rivaille as your tutor" I was startled; I hadn't heard Armin come in. I looked round to see him stood in the door way smiling.

"How? All he does is piss me off, I've barely learnt anything!" I spat back. Armin just laughed. He walked over to help me make drinks.

"I'm going to be blunt here but since your mother died, you've been a mess" I just stared at Armin. "You stopped coming to school, stopped doing things with everyone! You tried hiding your emotions and as a result you cut yourself off from everyone! But since he's been here, you've started to act like the old you" He looked up and smiled again. I had no idea this was how Armin had felt. Was this how Mikasa and everyone else felt? I felt guilty for making them feel like this. Maybe he was right.

"And I've noticed how you look at him too! Those sly little glances up and the little blush on you cheeks" Armin laughed poking me in the arm. I felt heat rush to my cheeks.

"W-what are you talking about Armin! Why would I do that?! H-he's a guy, I'm guy!" I hated how my voice cracked. Yeah, I thought Rivaille was good looking but that doesn't mean I like him at all. I mean he's a guy, I'm guy! And he's just apathetic bastard, why would I like anyone like that?

Armin just laughed. He turned to leave but stopped. "Welcome back Eren"


End file.
